87,934 Shares in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Purchased by Value Partners Investments Inc.

Value Partners Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 87,934 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock, valued at approximately $3,993,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Crescent Sterling Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.8% in the first quarter. Crescent Sterling Ltd. now owns 30,906 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,402,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. raised its position in Verizon Communications by 81.0% during the 1st quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. now owns 543 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 71.8% during the 1st quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the period. NCM Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. NCM Capital Management LLC now owns 18,390 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $735,000 after buying an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CRA Financial Services LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. CRA Financial Services LLC now owns 6,913 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $314,000 after buying an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VZ. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $45.00 price objective (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.0%

Verizon Communications stock traded down $0.01 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $42.11. The stock had a trading volume of 15,860,034 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,103,047. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $43.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.21. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.59 and a 12 month high of $47.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The company has a market capitalization of $177.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.03, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.38.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.66% and a net margin of 13.14%. The firm had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.31 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.44%. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is 64.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 7,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.88, for a total transaction of $329,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 19,008 shares in the company, valued at approximately $834,071.04. This trade represents a 28.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Company Profile

Verizon Communications Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of communications, technology, information, and entertainment products and services to consumers, businesses, and governmental entities worldwide. It operates in two segments, Verizon Consumer Group (Consumer) and Verizon Business Group (Business).